Witch Hunt (defense shooter)

Witch Hunt

Witch Hunt by GodSeeD Studios is a defense shooter which has the fiery rune sorceress Lucrea Quarta traveling with her tall handsome chunk of crystal (which she had stolen). Hordes of baddies try to stop her on each step of her journey (they're not the actual owner of said crystal). Lucrea has her arsenal of spells great and small to blast the baddies away.

While the game does not offer any genre-shaking new innovation, its strong point is its excellent implementation with a solid gameplay experience and a spellbinding main character.

Note: The screenshots and this review are based on the Overclocked Edition v1.07 of the game.

The map of Lucrea's journey.

Lucrea Quarta has a few similarities to Lina Inverse. However, Lucrea is not as avaricious and neither is she as flat as the silent sea.

Aim with mouse and blast away with Chaos Bolt.

As with the standard defense shooter, Lucrea's attacks are aimed with the mouse. What is interesting about the three different rune spells that are her basic attacks is that each of them works differently.

The Flame Orb is the standard direct fire spell that shoots a ball of flame from Lucrea's staff. It is good when attempting to stop a few fast baddies.

The Cold Spikes fires a cluster of projectiles that may penetrate though it has a slow rate of fire and relatively low damage. This spell is good for slowing a group of baddies.

The Chaos Bolt, which is randomly powerful and terribly inaccurate, deals damage to baddies within its vertical path. Because of its inaccuracy, it is best when there are baddies all over the screen.

Arcane Spells for additional firepower and help.

A fun complement to the basic rune spells are the Arcane Spells that require arcana charges (which regenerate over time) to cast. These powerful spells can do additional damage, attack larger groups of baddies and even summon temporary allies to help Lucrea.

Along with the fact that baddies have vulnerabilities to certain elements, battles are challenging. The rune magic and Arcane Spells provide different methods of defeating baddies. Arcana charges have to be budgeted to make sure that Arcane Spells are available to address and/or prevent emergencies. Quick decisions are required during combat, like whether to deal damage or to delay the baddies while waiting for arcana charges.

Upgrading runes.

Defeating baddies earns gold (the logic of it is explained in the opening cutscene). Gold may be used to purchase upgrades of different kinds. First, each individual rune may be upgraded. Next, there are general upgrades that persistently apply. Gold is also used to unlock Arcane Spells. Finally, any extra gold may be used to purchase potions that permanently provide damage bonuses.

Everyone likes trophies!

There are trophies to collect for in-game achievements. The number of trophies collected will give bonuses to damage dealt and gold collected. This helps Lucrea gather more gold to purchase more upgrades.

After Lucrea completes her journey, more upgrades are unlocked where gold can be spent on. There is also an endless challenge then for Lucrea to try out her new powers.

Fighting the Bone Lord.

Presentation-wise, the game has good sound effects and music. The graphics are good too, properly conveying the situation on the battlefield. However, when there are lots of things going on, the game may lag on weaker hardware. Turning down the effects and quality helps.

Witch Hunt is a well-made defense shooter game with an entertaining main character and dynamic combat. Gameplay is fun and interesting while the graphics and sound help set a good mood. The game is easy to learn as gameplay elements are introduced progressively and there are in-game tutorials to explain them along with tactical tips.

Atelier Rorona Plus

I just completed Atelier Rorona Plus.

The main story, that is.

There is an additional story after that. I think it is an addition to the Plus version, especially since it involves characters from the other two Arland games (their appearance in the opening cinematic should have been a big hint). If I understand what the game is trying to tell me, it will last for an additional year.

That will give me some additional time to tie up loose ends. Maybe.